Messiaen: Turangalila Symphony; L'Ascension

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Messiaen: Turangalila Symphony; L'Ascension Features

• Shrink-wrapped

• Year Of Release: 2000

About Messiaen: Turangalila Symphony; L'Ascension

Amazon.com If you don't already own a copy of Messiaen's epic, weird, and beautiful Turangalîla Symphony, here's your chance. And if you already own a copy, pick up this CD, anyway--you'll love it. Conductor Antoni Wit and the Polish National Radio Symphony deliver an awe-inspiring reading of the complex work, showcasing all the drama, tonal colors, and spiky rhythms the Turangalîla demands. Messiaen's 10-movement work is a grab bag of musical themes from throughout the composer's career; you'll find elements of birdsong, Eastern mysticism, a gorgeous "love theme," and serialism in this epic composition. With this much going on, it's no wonder that few ensembles (however famous) get it right. But Wit and company do get it right, letting the masterpiece's multiple themes (statue, love, flower, chord) all unfold dramatically, with great playing all around. Naxos's sonics are remarkable as well, capturing the magnitude of the 100-piece orchestra and providing a rich balance during the tricky passages for ondes martenot (a sort of glorified theremin). As a bonus on this budget priced, two-CD set, we get L'ascension, an earlier work from Messiaen but one that's just as interesting. Here, intense rhythms are replaced by lush symphonic passages, but the playing is just as splendid. Highly recommended. --Jason Verlinde Product description Turangalîla-Symphonie - L'Ascension / Thomas Bloch, ondes martenot - François Weigel, piano - Orchestre de la Radio Nationale Polonaise - Antoni Wit, direction